Ore separator



Feb. 14, 1928.

T." w. AINLAY ORE SEPARATOR Filed Oct. 5, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet l attommg Feb. 14, 1928. 1,658,874

T. W. AINLAY ORE SEPARATOR.

Filed. Oct. 5, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ;Z" ZZZ1 V 5/ i I l as v Thomas WAI'n la 3mm '53 Patented Feb. 14,1928.-

UNITED- STATES 1,658,874 PATENT. OFFICE.

THOMAS AINLAY, OF FARNAM, NEBRASKA.

onn SEPABA'IOR.

Application filed October 5, 1925. Serial m. 60,600.

water which can be pumped directly into the bowl with the said sand and gravel.

Another object of the invention is the ro- 15 vision of a novel bowl having its inner ace thereofsformed in a novel manner for catching the heavier material such as gold during the rotation of the bowl, the waste material being adapted to flow or fall over the edge of the bowl during the rotation thereof.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a novel centrifugal bowl having its innerksurface provided with a plurality of annular undercut grooves for retaining mercury, when mercury is used in the separator, the grooves being so formed as to permit the mercur to cover substantially the entire area of t e inner surface of the bowl thereby formi an effective means for catching the gold uring the operation of the bowl. i I a l f.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel means for supporting and operating the bowl so as to insure the proper operation thereof under all conditions.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a novel settling basin for receiving the bowl so as to form means for catching the waste material as the same is thrown from the. bowl, the settling basin forming an efiective means for catching any mercury or gold particles which might be thrown from the bowl with the waste material:

A still further object of the invention is to provide a novel machine for recovering gold of the above character, which will be durable and efficient in use, one that will be simple and easy to manufacture and one which can be placed upon the market and operated at a low cost.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in the novelconstruction, arrangement and formation of parts, as will be hereinafter more specifically described,

claimed, and illustrated in the accompany ing drawings, in which drawings:

igure 1 is a side elevation of the improved separator,

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal sec-' tion through the same,

Figure 3- is a top plan view of the sepa- I rator,

Figure 4 is a horizontal section through the separator taken on the line 4 -4: of Flgi ure 2,

Figure 5 is a diametric section through the bowl showing the same in use without. mercury,

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sec tion through the bowl showing the same being used with mercury and illustrating the position of the mercury in the grooves so as to cover substantially the entire inner surface of the bowl.

Referring to thedrawings in detail, wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several yiews, the letter A generally indicates the lmproved separator which comprises a frame ill a 10 constructed in any preferred way. The

frame 10 preferably includes a pair of spaced longitudinally extending base rails 11 between which is secured, adjacent to one end thereof, the novel settling basin 12 which will be hereinafter more specifically described. The opposite endof the rails 11 support a bed 13 for receiving any preferred type of prime mover, which can be an electric motor, water motor or as shown an internal combustion engine 14. The engine 14 can be provided with a fly wheel or drive shaft 15 to which can be secured drive pulleys 16, 17 and 18 the purpose of which will be hereinafter explained.

A pair of standards 19 are carried by the opposite sides of the settling basin 12 and are braced and connected to the rails 11 in any preferred way such as by struts 20 which also brace the basin12. These standards 19 support an enlarged hopper 21 which is arranged above the settling basin 12. This hopper 21 is provided with an inclined bot shown in Figure 2 of the drawings. The bowl 24 is arranged directly within the settling basin 12 below theupper edge thereof and as shown the same is of a hemispherical configuration, but the walls thereof can be flared to vary the shape of the bowl without departing from the spirit of the invention.

' In fact the bowl can be of a convexconcavo shape if preferred. An axially disposed hub or sleeve 25 is formed on the bowl and extends slightly above the upper edge of the bowl and receives the axially disposed drive shaft 26. The bowl 24 can be held on the shaft 26 in any desired way for rotation therewith and as shown the lower end of the shaft is threaded for the reception of a retaining nut 27. The shaft extends through a bearing 28 which is bolted or otherwise secured to transversely extending supporting bars 29, which can be formed of angle iron. The terminals of the bars 29 can be secured to the upright standards 19. Thrust bearings or cones 30 are fitted on the shaft 26 and engage suitable ball bearings carried by the supporting bearing 28. A pulley wheel of any preferred character 31 is keyed or otherwise secured to the upper end of the shaft 26 and is connected by means of a pulley belt 32 with the drive pulley 17. It thus can be seen that the bowl is operated directly from the engine 14 and the bowl is adapted to be driven from fifty revolutions per minute up to eighteen hundred revolutions per minute according to the size of the bowl. While I have shown the bowl driven from the engine by pulleys, it is to be understood that the bowl can be operated from the engine' in any other preferred way.

As heretobefore stated the bowl 24 forms one of the most important features of the invention and the inner face thereof is provided with a plurality of spaced concentricallydisposed undercut grooves 33. These grooves extend substantially fromthe bottom of the bowl to the upper edge thereof for a purpose which will be later described. It is to be noted that the grooves 33 define a lowerundercut face 34 and an upwardly inclined face 35v leading to the undercut face of the next adjacent groove. The bottom of the bowl can be provided with a removable plug 36 in order to permit the contents of the bowl to be drained at the desired time.

. ing retaining ledge 40.

Arranged above the hopper 21 is disposed a screen 41 which also can be of any preferred character. As shown this screen 41 is of the rotary type and includes the cylin drical screen body 42 and a hub 43 which receives the rotatable supporting shaft 44. This shaft 44 is rotatably mounted in suitable bearings carried by the upper ends of the standards 19 and one end of the shaft has keyed or otherwise secured thereto a pulley 45. The pulley 45 is in alinement with the pulley 16 and a drive pulley belt 46 is trained about the said pulleys to bring about the rotation of the screen. Attention is invited at this point, to the fact that the screen fits within the upper end of the hopper so as to prevent loss of material from the screen when the same is introduced into the screen.

In order to permit the introduction of water into the hopper and screen I provide a centrifugal pump 47 which can be secured to a suitable bed 48 carried by the frame 10. The outlet 49 of the pump has communicating therewith the delivery pipe 50, the upper end of which is provided with a goose neck 51 for overlying the screen 41. This water delivering pipe is preferably provided with a perforated horizontally extending leg 52 for extending the length of the screen in order to insure the proper delivery of water thereto. The intake of the pump 47 can be connected in any preferred way to a source of water supply.

In use of the improved separator mercury is placed directly within the bowl 24 and the bowl is rotated at the desired speed from the engine 14. The mercury will gradually work its way up the sides of the bowl and fill the grooves Suflicient mercury is added from time to time during the rotation of the bowl so that all of the grooves will be filled. It is obvious that the entire inner surface of the bowl will present a mercury surface for permitting the adhering or the amalgamation of gold therewith. Aft er the mercury 53 has filled all of the grooves 33 the sand and gravel is introduced into one end of the screen in any desired way for separating gravel and rocks therefrom. This screened sand will fall into the hopper 21 and thence through the funnel or work its way to the face of the bowl and adhere to or sink in the mercury 53 confined within the grooves. The separation of the gold from the sand is facilitated by thev water in the bowl. The water and lighter material will gradually crawl up the sides of the bowl and will be thrown out of the bowl into the settling basin 12. Any mercury which may have been thrown out of the bowl will naturally gravitate to the bottom of the basin while the water and sand will flow over the lip or ledge 40. Thus this mercury can be readily recovered. After the operation has been completed the plug 36 can be removed from the bottom of the bowl 24 and the mercury with the gold drained therefrom.

While l have described the use of the improved separator with mercury, it is to be understood that the machine will operate efiiciently without the use thereof and in fact will operate under some conditions better without the mercury. hen the machine is used withoutthe mercury the same is operated in the same manner as described above, the only difference being that no mercury is introduced in the bowl.

The pump 47 can be actuated from the engine 14 in any preferred way and as shown the pump shaft 54 has keyed or otherwise secured thereto a pulley 55 which is in alinement with the pulley 18. A suitable pulley belt 56 is trained over the pulleys 55 and 18.

lhis machine operates efficiently for recovering the so called flour gold and has been designed primarily for that purpose and can be used with paying results in fields which have already been worked.

Changes in details may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of this invention, but:

What I claim as new is:

1. In a centrifugal separator, a revoluble bowl having value retaining means on its inner face, means for rotating the bowl, and a settling basin receiving the bowl and extending above and below the same for catching waste material as the same is thrown from the bowl, the settling basin having an open side and a retaining lip extending above the lower face of the settling basin at said open side.

2. In a centrifugal separator, a revoluble screen for initially receiving material, a water pump, a feed pipe leading from the pump to the rotary screen, a perforated horizontal leg carried .by the pipe and extending longitudinally of the screen, a prime mover and means for synchronously rotating the screen and actuating the pump from 4.111 a centrifugal separator, a bowl hav-' ing value retaining means on its inner face, an axially disposed hub sleeve carried by the bowl and arranged in the same, a drive shaft extending through and connected with the sleeve, the shaft extending above said sleeve, a base frame, transversely extending supporting bars carried by the frame, a bearing secured to said supporting bars arranged above the bowl for rotatably supporting the shaft, a pulley secured to the shaft, a drive motor and means for rotating the pulley from said motor.

5. In "a centrifugal separator, a base frame, a settling basin carried by one end of the base frame including an open side, a lip extending above the bottom wall at the open side, a bed carried by the frame at the opposite end thereof, a prime mover arranged on the bed, a pump arranged on the frame between the bed and the settling basin, a revoluble bowl having value retaining means on its inner face disposed within the settling basin, means for feeding value bearing material to the bowl, means for screening said material, and means for operating the screen, the bowl, and the pump from said prime mover.

"6. In a centrifugal separator, a revoluble bowl having a vertical axis of rotation, and a plurality of interiorsuper-imposed annular grooves, each formedby a pair of radially flat companion walls, one inclining downwardly at an acute angle to the axis of rotation of the bowl, the other inclining upwardly at an acute angle from the axis of rotation of said bowl, but at a greater angle than its companion wall and joining therewith to form a pocket triangular in cross section dimensioned to prevent substantial eddies or flows therein.

In testimony whereof I afii'x my signature. THOMAS W. AINLAY. 

